File A121-R-60-6937A-12Article 131

60-6937

A-12 · Article 131
On displayBirmingham, Alabama

Southern Museum of Flight
Birmingham, Alabama, USA · 33.56, -86.74

A-12 60-6937 on outdoor display at the Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham, Alabama, in December 2006, with a T-38 behind it.
A-12 60-6937 on outdoor display at the Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham, Alabama, in December 2006, with a T-38 behind it.Civilengtiger (Wikimedia Commons user) · 2006-12-27 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Record

60-6937
131
A-12
345.8
Not confirmed
Preserved, on display
Southern Museum of Flight, Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Career

  • Flew the first BLACK SHIELD mission over North Vietnam on 31 May 1967 (Mele Vojvodich; 3 h 39 min at Mach 3.1 and 80,000 ft, two refuelings)
  • Flew 13 of the 29 BLACK SHIELD missions, the most of any A-12 (tally from the CIA mission table)
  • First A-12 fired on by a SAM: 28 Oct 1967, the 16th BLACK SHIELD mission (BX6732), Dennis Sullivan; the SA-2 was fired too late and was no threat
  • Took the only A-12 photograph of the captured USS Pueblo, over North Korea on 26 Jan 1968 (Jack Weeks)
  • Last A-12 ever to fly (21 June 1968)
  • 177 flights

Fate

Made the final flight of any A-12 on 21 June 1968, flown by Frank Murray from the Nevada test site to storage at Palmdale; now displayed outdoors by the Southern Museum of Flight in Birmingham.

In the chronology

22 May 1967BLACK SHIELD: A-12s deploy to Kadena OXCART
After President Johnson approved deployment at his 16 May 1967 Tuesday lunch, Article 131 (60-6937) flew nonstop from Nevada to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, in 6 hours 6 minutes on 22 May, followed by Article 127 (60-6930) on 24 May and Article 129 (60-6932), which diverted to Wake Island and arrived on 27 May. The 1129th Special Activities Squadron, Detachment 1, under Col. Hugh Slater, was ready for operations on 29 May.
31 May 1967First operational A-12 mission, over North Vietnam OXCART
Mele Vojvodich took off from Kadena in a downpour in Article 131 (60-6937) for a 3 hour 39 minute mission flown at Mach 3.1 and about 80,000 feet. He photographed 70 of the 190 known SAM sites in North Vietnam and nine other priority targets; no radar tracked the aircraft and no surface-to-surface missiles were found.
30 Oct 1967Six SAMs fired at an A-12; fragment found OXCART
Two days after North Vietnam fired its first SA-2 at an A-12 (28 October, Dennis Sullivan in Article 131), at least six missiles were launched at Sullivan in Article 129 (60-6932), flying at Mach 3.1 and 84,000 feet near Hanoi, and he saw three detonations behind him. A small piece of metal, probably missile debris, was found lodged in the lower right wing after landing, the closest an A-12 came to being shot down.
26 Jan 1968A-12 finds the USS Pueblo OXCART
Three days after North Korea seized the USS Pueblo, Jack Weeks flew Article 131 (60-6937) on a three-pass mission over North Korea, photographing the ship in a bay north of Wonsan and finding no sign of North Korean mobilization. Chinese radar tracked the A-12 but no missiles were fired.
21 Jun 1968Final A-12 flight OXCART
Defense Secretary Clark Clifford reaffirmed the termination on 16 May and President Johnson concurred on 21 May 1968; the Kadena A-12s flew home on 8 and 19 June. Frank Murray made the last A-12 flight on 21 June 1968, taking Article 131 (60-6937) from the Nevada test site to storage at Palmdale, California.
16 Jul 1971The 'YF-12C', really SR-71A 61-7951, joins NASA NASA
Because NASA was not then allowed to openly operate the reconnaissance version, the Air Force loaned the second SR-71A, 61-7951, under the cover designation YF-12C with the borrowed tail number 06937, which actually belonged to a still-secret A-12. It arrived at the NASA Flight Research Center on 16 July 1971 and made its last NASA flight on 28 September 1978.

Where the record disagrees

Serial oddity: the tail number '06937' was reused as a fictitious serial for NASA's 'YF-12C', which was really SR-71A 61-7951 (USAF 64-17951), loaned to NASA 1971 to 1978. Do not confuse the two. CIA Archangel states the first attempted shootdown of an A-12 was the 16th BLACK SHIELD mission on 28 Oct 1967.

Sources

  1. Central Intelligence Agency, Center for the Study of Intelligence. Archangel: CIA's Supersonic A-12 Reconnaissance Aircraft (David Robarge, 2nd ed.; includes 'Inventory of A-12s' table, p. 50). Open · Archived · In the register
  2. Roadrunners Internationale (OXCART veterans association). Lockheed A-12 Blackbird Survivors. Open · Archived · In the register
  3. Southern Museum of Flight. The A-12 Oxcart: A Supersonic Marvel and the Story of Article 131. Open · Archived · In the register